The Secret of the Yellow Death by Suzanne Jurmain
I don’t normally read non-fiction, but received this one in a shipment of advance copies.It held my attention and was very informative.I learned a lot about Yellow Fever, and the medical practices of the past.The pictures were great, and I would like to see the color ones instead of the black and white pictures in the advance copy.This is a great book for middle school grades. The Appendix was very useful, especially the volunteer list and the glossary of scientific terms.I have to give this one 5 stars.Excellent work Ms. Jurmain!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
This one is from the library writing intern, Thanks Sarah!
So, Della has given me, a writing intern at the library, a chance to offer a few book reviews here on the blog this semester. It’s pretty exciting for me! I’ve gotta say, though, I never read YA books (with the exception of Harry Potter), so I’m really new to the different age groups that these books are aimed toward. I wanted to jump in and give my opinion, however, so here’s the first book I read.
Kathryn Erskine’s second novel, Mockingbird, which is due for release in April, follows a ten-year-old girl named Caitlin who is dealing with her brother’s recent death. On top of that, she has Asperger’s Syndrome, and she is constantly misunderstood by the people around her. As the narrator of the story, Caitlin gives the reader insight into the thought processes of someone with this form of high-functioning autism. This is similar to Mark Haddon’s protagonist in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, although Haddon’s book was aimed toward adult readers while this one was intended for a younger audience.
I wasn’t sure when I began reading just who the intended audience was, but eventually I decided this was written with children and preteens in mind. I think Caitlin’s character is odd, true, but she seems inconsistent. She’s somewhat sarcastic in the beginning, but becomes more childlike towards the end, like she is withdrawing in maturity level as she acquires social skills. It’s a slight change in her character that I detected based on her earlier stubbornness and self-awareness. I found Caitlin likeable and a strong character throughout. Her moments of epiphany are funny and serve well as milestones in the story.
Erskine references To Kill a Mockingbird, one of my favorite books, but there is no similarity between the two, and while I like Mockingbird, it just doesn’t match up with Harper Lee’s beautiful novel. I found her decision to italicize dialogue to be distracting, and her use of CAPs for emphasis a lot like yelling. I’m not one for innovation sometimes (don’t get me started on sentence fragments and stream-of-consciousness!), so some people may like her decision here. There were places where this book made me misty-eyed – which is not that easy to do to me. Overall, I thought this was a sweet story and a quick read. And I always enjoy an unusual narrator. I’m not sure how to rate it since I’m new here, so I’ll just say I liked it but I didn’t love it.
Kathryn Erskine’s second novel, Mockingbird, which is due for release in April, follows a ten-year-old girl named Caitlin who is dealing with her brother’s recent death. On top of that, she has Asperger’s Syndrome, and she is constantly misunderstood by the people around her. As the narrator of the story, Caitlin gives the reader insight into the thought processes of someone with this form of high-functioning autism. This is similar to Mark Haddon’s protagonist in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, although Haddon’s book was aimed toward adult readers while this one was intended for a younger audience.
I wasn’t sure when I began reading just who the intended audience was, but eventually I decided this was written with children and preteens in mind. I think Caitlin’s character is odd, true, but she seems inconsistent. She’s somewhat sarcastic in the beginning, but becomes more childlike towards the end, like she is withdrawing in maturity level as she acquires social skills. It’s a slight change in her character that I detected based on her earlier stubbornness and self-awareness. I found Caitlin likeable and a strong character throughout. Her moments of epiphany are funny and serve well as milestones in the story.
Erskine references To Kill a Mockingbird, one of my favorite books, but there is no similarity between the two, and while I like Mockingbird, it just doesn’t match up with Harper Lee’s beautiful novel. I found her decision to italicize dialogue to be distracting, and her use of CAPs for emphasis a lot like yelling. I’m not one for innovation sometimes (don’t get me started on sentence fragments and stream-of-consciousness!), so some people may like her decision here. There were places where this book made me misty-eyed – which is not that easy to do to me. Overall, I thought this was a sweet story and a quick read. And I always enjoy an unusual narrator. I’m not sure how to rate it since I’m new here, so I’ll just say I liked it but I didn’t love it.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Panama, book review
Panama by Shelby Hiatt
Let me start by saying I’m not a prude; I’m an open-minded librarian. However, there were parts of this book that made me cringe. This book reads more like a cheap romance paperback than a young adult title. It starts slow and is hard to read even before the ‘romance’ part of the book. The background stories were more interesting than the main story line.
I liked the author’s portrayal of the main character’s excitement and disappointment when she arrived in Panama. The author did not scrimp on details of the conditions of the workers and their living quarters, which was one of Panama’s best parts. The turmoil that takes place in that setting is shown realistically through the eyes of a teen. Having the Wright brothers as neighbors was a nice twist. However, the flood and earthquake seemed thrown in to lengthen the book, unless the author was trying to include actual events that occurred in those areas at that time.
The plot jumped around quite a bit, especially toward the end. The book mentioned that one of the Wright brothers was dead while the main character is home, but doesn’t mention how or why he died. As close as the main character was to the Wright brothers, there should have been some mention of the incident. The author did a good job of capturing the excitement of the people as the Canal was finally completed. I liked that natives were the first to use the canal. I also liked how she ended the book, with the entry in the Diary. I believe this is a 2 star book, at best. If it was marketed toward an older audience, I would probably give it a little better rating, but as is, I didn’t care for this book very much at all. The author should write for some other audience instead of teens.
Let me start by saying I’m not a prude; I’m an open-minded librarian. However, there were parts of this book that made me cringe. This book reads more like a cheap romance paperback than a young adult title. It starts slow and is hard to read even before the ‘romance’ part of the book. The background stories were more interesting than the main story line.
I liked the author’s portrayal of the main character’s excitement and disappointment when she arrived in Panama. The author did not scrimp on details of the conditions of the workers and their living quarters, which was one of Panama’s best parts. The turmoil that takes place in that setting is shown realistically through the eyes of a teen. Having the Wright brothers as neighbors was a nice twist. However, the flood and earthquake seemed thrown in to lengthen the book, unless the author was trying to include actual events that occurred in those areas at that time.
The plot jumped around quite a bit, especially toward the end. The book mentioned that one of the Wright brothers was dead while the main character is home, but doesn’t mention how or why he died. As close as the main character was to the Wright brothers, there should have been some mention of the incident. The author did a good job of capturing the excitement of the people as the Canal was finally completed. I liked that natives were the first to use the canal. I also liked how she ended the book, with the entry in the Diary. I believe this is a 2 star book, at best. If it was marketed toward an older audience, I would probably give it a little better rating, but as is, I didn’t care for this book very much at all. The author should write for some other audience instead of teens.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Warning, Vent Inc!
So as I've said I'm a librarian in Chattanooga Tennessee and I know all of us librarians deal with the same things but it never fails to amaze me. I create book lists to help people find what they want. I just went through a book list that I've created and at least half the books have been stolen. We can't reorder them. We don't have enough money to waste more on books that people are going to come and steal again anyway. We can not help people create their own libraries from books they have stolen from our library. Yes it is Our library, yours and mine, if you live in Hamilton County. What these thieves don't get is they are stealing from themselves. They pay taxes, the taxes help us get the books. These people are so selfish, that they steal the books so no one else can read them. /rant off.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Another book review!
Boys, Girls, and other Hazardous Materials by Rosalind Wiseman
This one comes out in January, so this review is a little early. One of the things I love about being a librarian, Advance Reading Copies or ARC's as we call them :)
I really enjoyed this book, although it brought back some of my own memories about school I'd have rather not remembered. Ms. Wiseman weaves a familiar and believable tale of a high school freshman as she attends a new school. The reader always knows what Charlie, the main character, is thinking and the secondary characters are also well developed. The relationships Charlie has with the others in the book are easy to follow. At times, it is hard to pick out the "good guy," but this is not unusual in a real setting. Ms. Wiseman does not shy away from the issues surrounding our schools today, such as hazing, drinking, bullying, racism, and adults who are focused on things other than the well being of their students.
There are parts of the book that seemed predictable, but the author does a good job of throwing the reader curve balls just when the plot is starting to slow. This book doesn't make the mistake of focusing too much on the adults in the story, but only mentions them when the main characters are in direct contact with them. It is written in the first person and that makes it easy to follow and get wrapped up in; this is one of those books that once you start reading it, you get pulled in and don't want to stop until you see how it is going to end. This is an excellent book for girls who are reluctant readers, or for those who want a quick and enjoyable read. Charlie's voice is fresh and strong, and her character grows throughout the book as she deals with problem after problem. By the end of the book, Charlie doesn't know who to trust, but everything gets resolved, and everyone is happy, except for the bad guys.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Scary book review, Just in time for Halloween!
The Well is a great Halloween book, very creepy! It was a fast read and would be great for reluctant readers, especially boys, but girls will like it as well. The story was well written, and the language was easy to read and follow. I liked the foreshadowing, but I think the authors could have done more with Amelia’s house in the story; however, the authors do a really good job developing the character of Cooper and Cooper’s family. I felt sorry for the creature in the well, and hoped that somehow he would be able to get out. I know he was pretty mean, but hey, two hundred years alone in a well will do that to you, right?
As much as I enjoyed the book, there were a couple of flaws. First, there were too many current culture references; when a book has a lot of current culture references, the shelf life for it is pretty short. We librarians like books to have staying power. Second there was a hole in the plot toward the end. Whipple seemed to appear out of nowhere. He went from being dead to showing up in Cooper’s lap while Cooper was in his Dad’s car. Meghan was also a little too forgiving and seemed to believe everything a little too easily. She was also pretty wimpy, but then this does seem like a guy book and wimpy girls go along with the territory. In all I’ll give this one 4 stars, I was surprised I liked it so well.
As much as I enjoyed the book, there were a couple of flaws. First, there were too many current culture references; when a book has a lot of current culture references, the shelf life for it is pretty short. We librarians like books to have staying power. Second there was a hole in the plot toward the end. Whipple seemed to appear out of nowhere. He went from being dead to showing up in Cooper’s lap while Cooper was in his Dad’s car. Meghan was also a little too forgiving and seemed to believe everything a little too easily. She was also pretty wimpy, but then this does seem like a guy book and wimpy girls go along with the territory. In all I’ll give this one 4 stars, I was surprised I liked it so well.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Another Book Review: Donut Days
Let me start by saying I'm probably not the intended audience, but I kept an open mind and tried not to let my own views influence the way I felt about this book. It was an easy read, and would make a great Quick read for reluctant readers. For a first novel Ms. Zielin did well. The plot was simple and easy to follow, except for the abbreviated names, which made reading the story more difficult. I had to reread a few pages in the beginning until I could reliably figure out who the book was talking about. There was not enough character development for supporting characters; really, the only character you knew anything about was the main character herself. For many of the supporting characters, the only things you really learn about them are their names. There were a few details thrown in, but it would have been better if there were more, especially for those characters that appeared more often, such as Jake and Natalie. For example, why and when did Jake change his looks?
Emma, the main character is going through typical teenage anxiety about family and school life, but Ms. Zielin successfully adds in an extra little twist, by having Emma question her faith. It was interesting to get a glimpse into the life of someone growing up in an evangelical church. I liked Emma because she didn't accept things at face value, unlike some of her friends. Emma's friends however, were made out to be selfish, simple people; even her best friend, Natalie, was portrayed this way and I don't think that was the author's intention. The climax toward the end when the money was stolen seemed out of place and rushed. The ending wrapped most things up, and it was nice that her family became stronger. In all, I would give the book a 3 out of 5 rating.
Emma, the main character is going through typical teenage anxiety about family and school life, but Ms. Zielin successfully adds in an extra little twist, by having Emma question her faith. It was interesting to get a glimpse into the life of someone growing up in an evangelical church. I liked Emma because she didn't accept things at face value, unlike some of her friends. Emma's friends however, were made out to be selfish, simple people; even her best friend, Natalie, was portrayed this way and I don't think that was the author's intention. The climax toward the end when the money was stolen seemed out of place and rushed. The ending wrapped most things up, and it was nice that her family became stronger. In all, I would give the book a 3 out of 5 rating.
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